The View From CPD May/June 2010

As of today (June 11), there have been 12,718,400 visitors to the Shanghai Expo since it opened on May 1, 2010. That means that the anticipated projection of 70 million visitors may well be surpassed by the time the Expo closes in October. With this unprecedented opportunity to communicate various national identities to the world, the USC Center on Public Diplomacy’s research team in Shanghai launched CPD Video Conversations: Nation Branding at Expo 2010 Shanghai, a video blog which will feature nation branding efforts of various countries at the World Expo. From June through August, the team will explore how nation-states define, communicate and manage their identity and image through national pavilions.

The first video conversation is featured in this issue of PDiN Monitor and focuses on the French Pavilion: Culture as a Nation-Branding Platform. I encourage you to stay tuned for additional video blogs from about a dozen pavilions over the summer. Next up is South Africa which of course is launching its own massive cultural diplomacy extravaganza today—the World Cup.

This special issue is full of great articles on the Shanghai Expo—from an indepth exposé by Neal Rosendorf to Peter Winter’s snapshot from inside the much maligned USA Pavilion. Cesar Corona offers a historical context to the Expo while Jian (Jay) Wang and Cynthia Schneider tackle the impact and relevance of the Expo from various perspectives.

Finally you’ll find a brief round up of PDiN headlines about the Gaza Flotilla and a CPD book review by Joshua Saidoff of a new publication on US Public Diplomacy.

I hope you will enjoy this issue of PDiN Monitor and I welcome your feedback.